In
Māori mythology
Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern fantastic tales relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the p ...
, Apakura is the wife of
Tūhuruhuru, the son of
Tinirau
In Polynesian mythology, stories about Tinirau are found throughout the islands of Polynesia. He is a guardian of fish. Many themes recur in the various versions. Often he travels to another land in search of his wife, or his wife travels to anot ...
. She had several children, among whom are
Tūwhakararo
Tūwhakararo was a chief in Hawaiki in Māori mythology. His murder and the subsequent war led to one of the reasons for the Māori's emigrating from Hawaiki.
Tūwhakararo went on a visit to the Āti Hāpai (or Raeroa) people, whose chief, Popo ...
, Mairatea, Reimatua, and
Whakatau
(or ) was a supernatural person in Māori mythology.
One day Apakura threw her apron into the sea, and a sea named Rongotakawhiu took it and worked it into human form, and Whakatau was born. The taught him the arts of enchantment. As the c ...
. In another legend, Apakura is said to be the wife of Tūwhakararo, who was the son of
Rātā and father of Whakatau. Whakatau was born in a miraculous manner, from the girdle or apron which Apakura threw into the ocean which was made into a child by a sea deity (Tregear 1891:15).
References
*E.R. Tregear, ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891.
Māori mythology
Women in mythology
Legendary Māori people
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